DETECTIVES investigating a serious sexual assault from 1990 are appealing for the help of a couple who came to the aid of the distressed teenage girl.

The victim, who was 15 at the time, was raped at an address near Halton Road in Runcorn.

She managed to escape from the house and ran along Halton Road until she flagged down a car driven by a man in his early 20s. His passenger was a woman of around the same age.

DI Clare Coleman said: "Even though it was a long time ago, whoever this couple was will still remember picking up a teenage girl who was clearly in a distressed state and certainly remember hearing the shocking revelation that she had been raped.

"They kindly dropped her off and made sure she got into her house safely. Maybe as an afterthought, the woman knocked on the door and urged the girl to tell her parents what had happened to her.

"However the victim made her go because she didn′t want her parents to know what had happened until now.

"I would urge this man and woman to come forward and help us with our investigation.

"I′m sure you must have wondered what ever happened to that young girl you helped and would want to do anything you could to help her if you had the opportunity.”

If you can help, call the dedicated rape unit on 101 quoting incident number 114 of 26 April 2014, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.